Austrian power metal outfit Dragony have recently released their new album, Hic Svnt Dracones, via their new label Steamhammer/SPV. The group is no stranger to Metal Insider, as frontman Siegfried Samer contributes to the site whenever he can between his commitments to Dragony and his day job. We’re thrilled to see this release come to life! Following the album’s debut, the band shared a video for the single “Dreamchasers,” featuring Ambre Vourvahis of Xandria. They’ve also announced tour dates for 2025, including a stop at Greece’s Ghostlands & Ravenlands festival on February 23, followed by a European tour with Serious Black from March 18 to March 30. With a busy year ahead, we were able to chat with Samer to discuss the band’s latest record.
What was the writing process like for the new album, Hic Svnt Dracones?
The process was quite similar to the process we had already for “Viribus Unitis”. Most of the time, one member of the band, usually either me or our guitarist Matt or keyboard player Manuel, will come up with a basic idea for a song, and then we work the rest out in the studio of our producer Frank Pitters, who is basically the seventh member of Dragony and without whom the band would not exist in this form. He has been working with us since our early days, and has in recent years become more and more involved in our songwriting process as well. We’re really lucky to have him!
How has switching labels from Napalm Records to SPV Steamhammer affected the creative process?
This hasn’t affected the creative process, as we were going to make the album this way no matter what. Plus, the switch was not really that much of a change, as SPV Steamhammer has been part of the Napalm Records family for several years now, so it was more a matter of switching from one room to the next, as opposed to switching houses altogether! The guys at SPV are very experienced in the genre and working with them has been an absolute pleasure. I think Dragony are a great fit there, especially when looking at some of the other bands that are currently signed to SPV like Freedom Call, Virgin Steele or Running Wild.
Can you elaborate on the album’s concept surrounding the legend of the Lost Colony of Roanoke?
“Hic Svnt Dracones” is once again a concept album, and like on our previous album “Viribus Unitis”, we want to take the listener on a fantastical journey on which we mix real-life history with fantasy and mythology. This time, we take the British colonists of the mysterious “Lost Colony” of Roanoke, and have them take a trip to a mystical “land forgotten by time” where dinosaurs (so: dragons) still exist, and where they also encounter Viking tribes (as Vikings had sailed to North America already a thousand years prior), and set in motion the events of the Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods in Norse mythology. Basically we wanted to create “the Most Power Metal Album” of the year, by creating a mash-up of all the most popular tropes, clichés and gimmicks in Power Metal today, and so we combined the privateers and pirates of the late 16th century with the ever-popular Vikings and Norse mythology, and of course dinosaurs, right?
How do you think Hic Svnt Dracones differs from your previous albums in terms of style and content?
I think it’s our stylistically most diverse album to date, and that was also our goal. I tend to get a bit tired from bands who basically just repeat themselves on all of their albums, and where every song follows a very similar style and direction. That’s why we really wanted to combine elements of the old school European Power Metal of the early 2000s with more modern sensibilities inspired by bands like Powerwolf, Beast in Black or even Sabaton. I think this way, we were able to create an album that has something for every type of Power Metal fan – even if maybe not every song will totally appeal to every type of listener.
How does the song “Dragon Of The Sea (Sic Parvis Magna)” connect to the overall narrative of the album?
This song refers to the fate of the first colony of Roanoke, which was actually not the “Lost Colony”. The Lost Colony was the second colony founded there. However in case of the first colony, those colonists got into some struggles with the local Native population, and also ran short on food, and ultimately had to be rescued and brought back to England. This rescue was carried out by none other than legendary privateer Sir Francis Drake, the “Dragon of the Sea” as the Spanish would later call him. And that’s how this song ties into the concept of “Hic Svnt Dracones”, with “Sic Parvis Magna” being Francis Drake’s motto.
Could you talk about the new lineup changes with Matt on guitars and Chris on drums?
Sure! Matt actually worked with us already during and especially after the production of “Viribus Unitis”, so when it became clear that our guitarist Andreas would no longer be available going forward, it was an easy to choice to keep Matt on board as new permanent member. With Chris, the story is quite similar – he helped us out already on some shows in the past year, notably our headlining tour in Mexico, and we had great chemistry with him. So when it became apparent that also our drummer Frederic would no longer be able to deliver the necessary time commitment to Dragony, Chris was a natural choice. Both guys have really added a lot to the dynamic of the band, especially since they are both considerably younger than the rest of the band!
What challenges did you face during the entire process, from writing to recording?
I think the biggest challenge came late in the process when it was time to mix and master the album. We were originally planning to work again with Seeb Levermann from Orden Ogan on this, since he had already done a fantastic job for our previous album “Viribus Unitis”, however he was pretty busy with his own band at the time, so we had to pivot more or less last minute. Thankfully, Jacob Hansen was available and agreed to mix and master the album, so we were really lucky to be able to work with one of the best engineers in today’s metal scene for this album. So in the end, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise I would say.
How does the bonus track “The Untold Story (Albion Online)” fit into the overall theme of the album?
It does not, haha. Actually, this was an additional stand-alone single that we released earlier this year, as it is the official tie-in song for the popular MMORPG “Albion Online”, created by Sandbox Interactive from Germany. We were contacted by the company late in 2023 as one of their guys is a big metal fan and also a fan of Dragony, and he asked us if we were interested in doing this type of collaboration for the game. Since I am a big video game guy myself, of course I immediately said yes, and we were able to produce this additional song as sort of an appetizer for the new album as well. We made a nice video for this one as well, and since it turned out a really good song, we decided to put it on the album as a bonus track. That was a really cool collab, and definitely a bucket list item for me to make the official song for a video or computer game!
For Siegfried, with your various commitments, such as, balancing work along with your role in Dragony and the time-to-time contributing to Metal Insider, how do you manage your time and stay focused on all these different projects?
I like to think I have really good time management, haha! Sometimes it does get a bit challenging, to be sure, but all in all it’s still manageable to juggle band and job as well as private life pretty well. I mean, I also used to overdo it sometimes – when I was also singing for Visions of Atlantis from 2013 to 2018, while still working a full time job and having Dragony, that was a bit too much, and that was also the reason why I needed to step down from Visions of Atlantis – there was just no way for me to keep up with their increasing touring schedule while still having my day job and Dragony. But now, things have settled down pretty well and there’s enough time for all the activities – and I keep on planning on doing Dragony as long as it’s still fun!
Is there anything else you want to say or add to your listeners about the new album?
Thank you for the interview, and I hope that Power Metal fans from all over the world enjoy “Hic Svnt Dracones” and have a lot of fun with our new album. And I of course hope that Dragony can make it to the US for some shows in the future as well – it’s a challenge these days, but I’ve learned to never say never.
